Jane Lee and Cameron Houston

Victims have called for all 351 compensation claims to the Catholic Church's Melbourne Response to be reviewed and have accused the process as lacking compassion and transparency on the opening day of the Royal Commission.

Paul Hersbach told the Commission on Monday that his father, uncle, brother and himself had been abused by Father Victor Rubeo, who the family had referred to as 'Gramps' which had been embroidered on his hat.

"I do not need or want a personal apology. I do not want the church burned down," he said. "All I want is for someone from the Catholic Church to show compassion and give me a call one day and say 'Hi Paul how are you going these days?..Can I do anything to help?'"

When Mr Hersbach sought compensation from the church, he said that he was discouraged by independent commissioner Peter O'Callaghan, QC, from reporting his abuse to police because he "didn't think anything would happen". Six weeks later he received a letter from Mr O'Callaghan saying "with respect to the unsurprising haziness of your memory there would not appear to be much point in your taking the matter to the Police".

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Mr O'Callaghan is expected to tell the Royal Commission that he does not recall the conversation.

Mr Hersbach received counselling from the Melbourne Response's counselling arm Carelink as a "secondary victim" to his father's abuse but only revealed he too was abused by Father Rubeo in 2006.

But he always felt intimidated and fearful that the counselling services would ultimately be withdrawn, and told the church he too had been abused in order to access counselling for himself and his wife after they experienced marital difficulties.

He later received $17,500 in compensation but only signed the deed of release to formally accept the payment a year later.

He told the Royal Commission he considered himself "lucky" compared to other victims because he had learned how to cope and recognise what triggered his emotions.

Chrissie Foster was the first witness to give evidence at the Royal Commission on Monday, blaming serial paedophile Kevin O'Donnell for the death of her eldest daughter Emma and the lifelong injuries sustained by her daughter Katie in a car accident.

O'Donnell preyed on both girls while he was a parish priest at Oakleigh's private Sacred Heart primary school in the 1980s.

Emma received an offer of $50,000 in compensation from the Melbourne Response, which was then the maximum amount offered to victims of abuse.

The pair received three letters in the same envelope in August 1998. One was an apology from Archbishop George Pell, with another from the church's lawyers at Corrs Chambers Westgarth, which said they hoped the counselling from Carelink would be a "realistic alternative to litigation that will be otherwise strenuously defended".

"I felt there was an apology and then a threat. It was more of the same from the Catholic Church," Ms Foster said.

She and her husband Anthony Foster were refused compensation for themselves in 1998.

Mr O'Callaghan, she said, found that Emma had been abused and told the couple that he believed Katie had also been abused, but when they took civil action against the Church in the Supreme Court, all defendants denied their abuse and subsequent injuries.

They later settled for $750,000, which she said was inadequate to reflect the pain and suffering caused to her family, but acknowledged this was far greater than most victims received.

"Nothing about this process was transparent," she said.

The Fosters said the legal system was a "far superior" alternative to the Melbourne Response for victims of clerical abuse, and called for reforms to allow victims to access "full and just compensation" through the courts.